Wednesday, July 2, 2014

What's Up Wednesday: Happy Canada Day!

What I'm Reading
I read Rebel Belle which I loved (aside from a couple of minor things). Rachel Hawkins always has such fun, sassy MCs. Next was Her Dark Curiosity by Megan Shepherd, a good sequel to The Madman's Daughter, although I wasn't blown away. Then I read Imaginary Girls by Nova Ren Suma and... gah, I have so much to say about this book, most of it negative that I need to keep my mouth shut. Needless to say, I was not a fan. Boo. I've been reading so much that I'm starting to get cranky about the books I'm reading, or maybe I'm just impatient with them and noticing things I otherwise might not notice when I take things slower.

What I'm Writing
Starting my last revision on EPONINE. Hopefully I can nail this thing, or else I might just cry. ;)

What Inspires Me Right Now
I love Sam Smith so much that I've had his CD on repeat since I bought it. He's so good!
What Else I've Been Up To
Lots! We took the kids to How To Train Your Dragon 2 on Saturday. (We all loved it, although I wish they'd have given Hiccup's mom more to do. She was this awesome dragon rider but then she did NOTHING during the big end scenes.) Then on Monday, me and the hubs and friends went to the new Transformers. Minor issues with it (Kelsey Grammar's character was ridiculous, and there were a couple of girls in it who really did nothing and I didn't see the point of them), but I love the actual TRANSFORMING. I'm like a little kid watching it- it's so cool!!!

Tuesday was Canada Day. My son was in the Airdrie Canada Day Parade with his 'Lil Dragons kickboxing group and the rest of us had fun watching.

What have you been up to?

11 comments:

  1. Best of luck with the revisions! I really want to watch HTTYD2, but it's not out in the UK until the 11th. Have a great week!

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  2. Aww, I love the group shot of you and your girls. Adorable! Looks like you had a fun Canada Day, so that's awesome! (We did too.:D)

    I don't know if you find this too, but I think the more time we spend on our own writing, the more we notice--good and bad--in the books we read. When you're busting your butt to whip your story into shape, your tolerance level goes down for books that feel like they need WAY more editing, whether at the plot/content level or even just grammar/word level. ("You're" used generally here, of course.) I know that's how I feel anyway. It really can detract from your enjoyment of a story, hey?

    Good luck jumping into your revision of EPONINE! You can do it! :D

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    1. "your tolerance level goes down for books that feel like they need WAY more editing"
      YES.
      There's a popular book I listened to as an audiobook last summer. The concept was brilliant but to me it read like an unpolished draft without the expertise of a professional editor. Not grammar mistakes but tons of repetition, excessive infodumping, repetition of the infodumps (even worse). I just did not understand how an editor left so much filler in a book that could have been amazing had it been streamlined. I could not shut off my internal editor and couldn't enjoy the story.

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    2. Jaime that was totally what it was. The things I noticed in Imaginary Girls were mistakes I make in my own writing (like a passive MC for example) so it's frustrating seeing someone do it and get away with it. :/

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  3. Good luck with revisions!

    I want to see HTTYD2 so bad but I'll probably be waiting for the DVD. Transformers 4...you're actually the first person I've seen that had nice things to say about it.

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  4. I <3 HTTYD2 ^_^

    Good luck with that final revision :D

    I read Imaginary Girls a couple of years ago and I remember being a bit meh about it. Beautiful cover though ;)

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  5. The reviews for Imaginary Girls are very polarizing. I happened to love it. I found it wonderfully haunting and mysterious and I really liked the magical realism and the ties to real life history (the reservoir is based on a real place and real "sunken" town). I'd like to read the other two books you mentioned. I like the Madman's Daughter though parts really creeped me out (in a good way). Was not super fond of the romance in that book but the setting and creep factor won out.

    I'd love to see the dragon movie but I'm done with those Transformers movies. Good luck with writing this week!

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  6. It's the writers' curse. We can't help reading critically. There are authors who almost never put me in that place, but there are an awful lot of times something will throw me out of a story--something nonwriters don't even notice.

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  7. Yes yes yes to Sam Smith! Oh my gosh, Stay With Me is basically my July anthem, so beautiful <3

    I know what you mean about 'reading TOO much', sometimes I read a whole heap of amazing books in one go and then run into a brick wall with a new one. Curse you, expectations!

    Best of luck with the revisions, have a wonderful week! :)

    - Caitie

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  8. I get the same way about books, especially when I'm in revision mode. I hate feeling like I'm busting my butt trying to get everything as close to perfect as possible then seeing major issues in actual published books. It's a bit discouraging actually, as a reader and a writer. Ah well.

    That's such a great photo of you and your girls! Glad your family had a happy Canada Day too! Also, I'm sure you'll nail this last revision! Cheering you on!

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  9. Good luck with that final revision! I really enjoyed HTTYD2, though I have to agree with you about Hiccup's mother.

    Have a great week!

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